The Australian government says it’s sticking with plans to buy F-35 Joint Strike Fighters, saying it will by about 72 in the near term and will decide on the procurement of more of the aircraft as the retirement of F/A-18 Super Hornets approaches in the late 2020s.
Australia’s program of record calls for acquiring 100 of the Lockheed Martin [LMT]-built stealth fighters, but the government-issued white paper, which outlines the country’s national defense strategy, did not explicitly state it would buy that amount. The first batch of aircraft will replace Boeing’s [BA] F/A-18 Hornet, an earlier version of the Super Hornets. The Australian embassy in Washington, however, confirmed the plan of record remained 100.
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| The F-35A. Photo by Lockheed Martin |
“The government remains committed to acquiring the fifth generation F-35A Joint Strike Fighter aircraft, with three operational squadrons planned to enter service beginning around 2020…” the white paper said.
“A decision on replacing the Super Hornet with additional Joint Strike Fighters will be made closer to the withdrawal of the Super Hornets, which is not expected until around 2030,” the document said.
Australian Defense Minister Stephen Smith in a press conference on Friday echoed the language in the white paper.
“On the basis of current arrangements, the first of our three squadrons of Joint Strike Fighters would arrive in 2020, and progressively over the years when you got to the 2030s you’d be in a position to make a judgement as to whether the squadron of 24 Supers would be replaced by a further squadron of Joint Strike Fighters,” he said, according to a government transcript.
Australia’s commitment to the F-35 is a boost for the beleaguered F-35 program, which has encountered massive cost overruns and delays. Australia was thought to be reconsidering its role in the program.
The U.S. program cost has risen to more than an estimated $395 billion, well above the initial estimate cost of about $230 billion. The U.S. military plans to buy 2,443 of the aircraft for the Air Force, Marine Corps and Navy, and numerous other countries have plans to procure the F-35s.
“We are proceeding on the basis, if there are no further delays to the JSF and by the way, any delays to date or any future delays in the Joint Strike Fighter project are not something, in real terms, that the Australian Government or Australia itself or the (Australian Defense Forces) can influence,” Smith said.
Smith also announced that Australia will purchase 12 EA-18G Growlers from Boeing to offset the possibility of further problems or delays with the F-35. The Growler is a variant of the F/A-18 airframe but its primary mission is electronic attack.
“We are in the hands of others, and that’s why we’ve made decisions to protect our own air combat capability with the previous acquisition of Super Hornets and now additional Growlers,” Smith said.